


Comfort and Joy

by Linguini



Category: Cabin Pressure
Genre: Arthur Shappey: Cuddle Monster, Cuddling & Snuggling, Fandot Summer Christmas 2017, Fluff, Gen, Gordon is not a nice man, but we already knew that
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-07-10
Updated: 2017-07-10
Packaged: 2018-11-30 12:37:38
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 369
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11463756
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Linguini/pseuds/Linguini
Summary: Wing Commander Sir Arthur Shappey, Esquire, Cuddle Monster at Large





	Comfort and Joy

**Author's Note:**

  * For [MsCashew](https://archiveofourown.org/users/MsCashew/gifts).



26th December 1989

A fire crackled merrily in the hearth, casting a warm glow on the small pile of presents under the tree. Outside, rain pattered against the windowpanes, lit by the deceptively merry fairy lights draped artfully on the tree. Carolyn sighed and settled into her husband’s armchair with a weary sigh, a mug of mulled wine in one hand and a half-eaten mince pie in the other. 

One of the logs suddenly split, sending sparks shooting up the flue. It didn’t startle her. Nothing did, anymore. There was only the weary acceptance of her situation--a cruel, distant husband, his unused place setting at dinner, her dim but much-loved son, the distant click of the answerphone recording.

_Sorry, Caro, can’t make it. You know how things are in Bristol._

And she certainly did, what with the tight skirts and free-flowing alcohol.

All of a sudden, there was pressure around her middle and the gentle weight of her boy’s head against her ribs. “What’s this?” she asked as she reached carefully to set her mug on the side table. “You’re meant to be asleep.”

Her son grinned up at her and squeezed her again, eyes shining. “Arthur _is_ in bed,” he said, voice pitched low and growly.  
“Is he now?” Tenderly, she swept her fingers through his fringe. “Then who is this I who has me in his grasp then?”

“The cuddle monster,” Arthur replied and ducked his head. “You looked sad, so I’ve come down to cuddle you.”

Ah. Not for the first time, she marvelled at her son’s unending capacity for affection, so unlike his father it was almost miraculous. “Well then. Luckily, you’ve picked the best time for it.” She pulled him into her lap and wrapped her arms around him, holding him close and breathing in the smell of cinnamon and nutmeg from the day’s cooking (and noting the bits of flour still behind his ear). 

Outside, the rain fell harder, pounding against the windows and creating miniature oceans in the dips of the pavement. But nothing disturbed the peace of the two of them there, wrapped in the warmth of their love for each other in the warm, comforting light of the fire.


End file.
